This is a reminder when purchasing sounder specials and cheap deals to check the transducer that's being supplied, and that it will fit your kayak.

Over the last month or two I've been contacted on a regular basis by kayakers who've made the most of recent price drops on near end of line sounder models e.g. as Lowrance has progressively released the latest generation CHIRP models, the older HDI models have been given some very attractive pricing.

One factor many paddlers have not been aware of is that many of these sounders are bundled with less commonly requested transducer options. The classic is to open the box and discover there's a massive 50/200/455/800 kHz HDI transducer inside instead of the more normally seen 83/200/455/800 kHz version.

Long story short, whenever purchasing any sounder always confirm the transducer will fit your particular kayak before parting with hard earned cash.

Here's an example to give some idea of what I'm on about - I've had all three of these Lowrance transducers (and a couple of others I don't have for photographing) turn up to be installed into various brands and models of kayaks. The little 83/200 on the right fits virtually every kayak. The 83/200/455/800 HDI in the middle fits most late model kayaks. The right hand 50/200/455/800 HDI monster is a struggle to get into many kayaks, and won't fit Viking's Profish 400 and Profish 440, though it fits nicely into the Reload and Profish GT.